Monday, March 3, 2014

The Call of Agon: Book One of the Children Telm / Dean F. Wilson


Reviewed by: Sooz

Genre: Epic Fantasy

Approximate word count: 120-125,000 words

Availability    
Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES
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Author:

Dean F. Wilson was born in Dublin, Ireland. The Call of Agon was his first published novel, which won an award for an early draft in 2001. Wilson has since published two more. He is also a journalist working in the technology field.

You can learn more at his website.

Description:

Agon, a powerful and evil god, is being called back to the world from his prison. Ifferon, one of the last of the bloodline of the god Telm, is one of the few who can stop Agon’s resurrection. He embarks on the journey with several companions who aid in his quest.

Appraisal:

The term epic fantasy was made to apply to The Call of Agon.

It has all the typical elements you would expect with a dangerous mission to save the world, a band of companions whose attributes complement each other, an evil monster, and an epic world.

The book starts with the “hero” realizing that he can no longer run. Ifferon spent the last decade hiding. However, his secret has caught up to him as the monastery he has been living in is under attack from dark forces.

He manages to escape the attack, and that is when the journey begins.

I used “hero” in quotes because Ifferon is reluctant. He spent most of his life hiding and now that he is pushed to the forefront, he would rather run than face the challenges, which makes for interesting conversations between him and the people who want to fight.

The characters are mostly well-written and have their own voices, especially Herr'Don, a brute prince charged to help Ifferon. Ifferon is actually one of the most underdeveloped characters for most of the first half of the book, but I think that’s by design. Also, it’s not entirely clear as to why Ifferon needs to be protected, simply that he is important. But this is all revealed in time.

The band does their fair share of walking through this world, which is one of the drawbacks of the book. When it looks as though an action scene is finally about to happen, it’s not given enough play with a section ending just as the intense fighting is about to begin. The next section then starts when everything is over and some of the characters recount what happened to them. More action and less talking in this case would have been better.

Author Dean F. Wilson makes up for that with the big fight scene followed by several important reveals at the end of the book. The action in this section was gripping and kept me pushing through to the finale. I was actually disappointed when the book was over because I became so invested by this point, I wanted to know more.

But anytime you read something with “Book One” in the title, you know that there is a chance the story continues even when the book is over.

Wilson wrote the book with beautiful prose and mixed in lyrical verses as part of the story. It’s not an easy book to read, but that’s not a negative. The Call of Agon is a book that readers can’t skim through, but have to pay attention and absorb the words.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.


Rating: **** Four stars

1 comment:

nrlymrtl said...

I read this book last year and found it enjoyable. I liked the high adventure aspect of it and that each character has secrets and mysteries that the reader has to guess at based upon the character's actions. I'll be keeping my eye out for Book 2.